Batkid Leukaemia Patient Battles Crime

San Francisco has become Gotham City to make the wish of a five-year-old superhero come true.

Miles Scott, aka Batkid, left the city's Union Square in one of two Batmobiles on Friday morning.

The vehicles - two black Lamborghinis with Batman decals - were surrounded by media and onlookers.

Police blocked off roads as they escorted Batkid on his first caper, rescuing a damsel in distress from cable car tracks.

The drive through city streets is part of a day of events organised by the Make-A-Wish Foundation to fulfil Miles' wish to be Batkid. Miles was diagnosed with leukaemia and is in remission.

He also captured the Riddler as he robbed a downtown bank.

A flash mob will summon Batkid later in the day to deal with another crime - the kidnapping of the San Francisco Giants mascot Lou Seal - by the Penguin.

Batkid helps capture The Riddler in the act. Pic: SFPD

The San Francisco Chronicle plans to distribute special-edition newspapers with the headline, "Batkid Saves City," in Union Square.

After all the criminals are captured Miles was scheduled to receive a key to the city from Mayor Ed Lee.

"This wish has meant closure for our family and an end to over three years of putting toxic drugs in our son's body," Miles' mother, Natalie, told Make-A-Wish.

"This wish has become kind of a family reunion and is our celebration of his treatment completion."

The city's effort has created a huge stir on social media and posts on Twitter captured the positive mood.

"Well done @SFWish This is one of the greatest things I've ever seen," @dustinpenner25) posted.

"If you want your faith in humanity restored, just look at the hashtag #SFBatKid. This is awesome," @benwinslow wrote.

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Typhoon Haiyan: Cameron Pledges Extra £30m

The UK Government is to give an extra £30m in aid to help the relief effort after the devastating typhoon in the Philippines.

Prime Minister David Cameron said Britain had already pledged £23m to help the relief effort but he added it was clear more aid was needed after "watching appalling scenes of mass destruction".

The devastated town of Tanuan, south of Tacloban

During a news conference in Sri Lanka ahead of the Commonwealth summit, Mr Cameron said: "Today I can announce we are providing another £30m to support the UN and the Red Cross emergency appeals and we are also supplying an RAF C-130 Hercules aircraft to help ensure aid workers can move between the worst affected areas and get aid to those who need it."

It brings the total amount of aid donated by the Government to £50m.

Mr Cameron's pledge comes on the day another RAF cargo plane carrying heavy duty vehicles and medical supplies arrived in the Philippines as part of Britain's emergency response.

The RAF C-17 aircraft prepares to unload in Cebu Province

The huge C-17 transport plane, carrying two JCB diggers, two Land Rovers and a forklift truck emblazoned with stickers reading "UK aid from the British people", landed in Cebu province on Saturday morning.

Sky's Defence Correspondent Alistair Bunkall, who was onboard the plane, said: "The flight stopped off en route in the Middle East and Singapore and needed three flight crews to make the journey.

"It will now return to the Philippines with more aid in the next few days."

UK ambassador to the Philippines Asif Ahmad told Sky News: "The C-17 load is being handed over to the UN immediately so it can be taken to where the need is most.

A Land Rover hits the tarmac at Cebu airport

"I've just been talking to the commander here of the (air) base, who is facilitating the movements, and his reaction on hearing of the Prime Minister's commitment is, 'You bring tears to my eyes every time I speak to you, tears of joy'."

Squadron Leader David Blakemore, who flew the plane from Singapore added: "Hopefully there will be a few more missions and we'll be able to support the Philippine people over the coming weeks with the aid effort."

A 12-strong team of British doctors, surgeons and paramedics are already in the devastated country helping to treat survivors.

Mr Cameron said: "A week after Typhoon Haiyan hit, the scale of the disaster is becoming clearer every day - over 3,600 dead, nearly 12 million affected.

The Philippine government has put the official death toll at 3,633

"They are going to need sustained help from the international community as they start to rebuild their lives.

"I'm proud of the fact that the UK has taken the lead in international relief with rapid response of warships, aircraft and equipment."

Authorities in the Philippines have put the official death toll at 3,633, with 1,179 people missing and nearly 12,500 injured.

The UN has put the number of dead at 4,460 and said that 2.5 million people still "urgently" required food assistance.

Mr Bembridge with his partner and daughter. Pic: Channel 4 News

At least 600,000 people have been displaced with many homeless, and large numbers of survivors are struggling without food, water and shelter.

Meanwhile, the Foreign Office is looking into reports that a British man may have been killed in the wake of the typhoon.

Colin Bembridge, 61, was staying with his Filipino partner Maybelle, 35, and their three-year-old daughter Victoria near Tacloban when the storm struck.

The Philippines government has defended its efforts to deliver aid, with interior secretary Mar Roxas saying: "In a situation like this, nothing is fast enough."

Residents talk near a fire in a central area of Tacloban City

Workers in Tacloban have been burying scores of unidentified bodies in a mass grave as desperately needed aid begins to arrive.

Charity organisation Save the Children said three lorries carrying household and family hygiene kits will set off in convoy from Manila to reach Tacloban and will benefit 5,000 people.

Additional fuel, which has been in very short supply in the area, will also arrive and enable further distributions to take place over the coming days.

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Libya: Deaths As Militias Fire On Protesters

At least 40 people have been killed and 400 wounded after militiamen fired on a demonstration demanding their eviction from Libya's capital Tripoli, the prime minister said.

Hundreds of people carrying white flags in a sign of peace, as well as the national flag, and singing the national anthem had assembled in the capital's Meliana Square.

They then marched to the Misratah militia headquarters in the Gharghour district when gunmen inside fired into the air to scare them off.

But when the crowd continued to move towards the building, the gunmen started firing at them, according to witnesses.

Footage aired on the privately owned al-Nabaa television network showed protesters running from gunfire while carrying others covered in blood.

A Reuters reporter said they saw an anti-aircraft cannon firing from the militia compound into the crowd.

The protesters fled at first but came back heavily armed to storm the gated buildings, where militiamen when were holed up until nightfall.

Dozens of army trucks later arrived to attempt to separate the crowds and militiamen in the compound, sealing off roads to prevent more armed people joining the battle.

Witnesses said some of the militiamen were wounded or arrested, while the remainder eventually fled.

Some of the protesters were armed with weapons too

The commander of the militia, Al Taher Basha Agha, vowed in a telephone interview with Libya al-Ahrar accused the protesters of opening fire first.

"Who is the person who is inciting them?" he said. "The evil ones who are using the civilians as a bridge to cross to power.

"Tripoli has not seen a war yet, it will see it soon," he threatened.

Many residents of Tripoli are frustrated with the continued presence of the militia, who are hangovers from the 2011 uprising that ousted dictator Muammar Gaddafi and now a powerful force in the increasingly lawless North African country.

The militia frequently fight with other armed factions in the city.

Prime Minister Ali Zeidan, who was briefly seized by militiamen himself last month, said his embattled government was working on a plan to drive out all militias from Tripoli.

"There will be no exception," he said. "All militias - including those in Tripoli - will be out."

Sadat al Badri, president of Tripoli's city council, which called for the protest, said tensions were rising over the militias.

"We're going to announce a general strike and launch a civil disobedience campaign until these militias leave," he said.

The militias have rejected calls from the weak central government to leave the capital.

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Sri Lanka Rejects PM Deadline Over 'War Crimes'

The Sri Lankan government has rejected a call by Prime Minister David Cameron to conduct an independent investigation by March into alleged war crimes.

The UN and rights groups say as many as 40,000 civilians may have been killed in the final stages of the civil war against the rebel Tamil Tigers in May 2009.

But the country's president Mahinda Rajapaksa has denied any civilians were killed.

And he has blocked all calls for an independent probe into claims of war crimes committed by government forces against the Tamil population in the northern Jaffna region.

Mr Cameron is pressing the regime to do more to improve conditions for the Tamil minority and he met Mr Rajapaksa on Friday to discuss the human rights issue.

The PM said Mr Rajapaksa wanted more time to address the claims, but put him on notice to deliver by March or he would push for an international investigation through the auspices of the UN human rights council.

During his trip to Sri Lanka, Mr Cameron went to the war-scarred north of the island - the first visit by a foreign leader to the region since 1948.

The PM's visit is the first by a foreign leader to the region since 1948

He met families still unable to return to their homes after spending 20 years in refugee camps and was mobbed by protesters who claim relatives were murdered by the state.

The PM insisted he had given a "fair reflection" of the need for improved human rights after cricketer Muttiah Muralitharan suggested he had been given a false picture of his country.

The spin bowling great, who is a Tamil, said Mr Cameron had been "misled" about the latest situation in the north.

Mr Muralitharan said: "I'm a sportsman and we don't think about politics. My opinion is, there were problems in the last 30 years in those areas.

"Nobody could move there. In wartime I went with the UN, I saw the place, how it was. Now I regularly go and I see the place and it is about a 1,000% improvement in facilities."

At a news conference at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (Chogm) in Colombo, Mr Cameron said the human rights issue would remain high on the international agenda.

David Cameron pits his batting skills against Muttiah Muralitharan

He said: "The Sri Lankan government needs to go further and faster on human rights and reconciliation.

"I accept it takes time but I think the important thing is to get on the right track. This issue is not going to go away, it's an issue of international concern."

In response to Mr Cameron's comments, a senior Sri Lankan minister reaffirmed that the country's government would "definitely" not allow it.

Economic development minister Basil Rajapaksa, who is the president's brother, said: "Why should we have an internal inquiry?

"We will object to it ... Definitely we are not going to allow it."

Mr Cameron acquitted himself well when he pitted his batting skills against some "Murali" deliveries at a cricket ground in Colombo.

They were there to talk about the sportsman's initiative to bring together youngsters from Tamil and other communities through cricket as part of post-war reconciliation efforts.

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Typhoon Haiyan: Victims Flee Tacloban

By Mark Stone, Asia Correspondent on Leyte Island, Philippines

With nothing but the clothes on their backs, hundreds of typhoon victims are making a desperate bid to escape Tacloban.

People are trying to escape the devastation of Tacloban

The ferry terminal in Ormoc City is full of lost Filipinos. They have nowhere to go. No plan, no home, no job, nothing.

All they have left are the few belongings they carry: small damp rucksacks, plastic bags, umbrellas. Some have only what they are wearing.

And they are supposed to be the lucky ones - the survivors of this cruel swipe of nature.

Each of them has their own story. Here is just one.

Julio Gatela is 32. He had a computer shop in Tacloban until his city became the place most devastated by the typhoon.

We meet him in the vast queue for one of the ferries away from here.

Julio lost everything when the typhoon hit

The first thing we discover is that he has eaten just a few biscuits for five days.

There is food in this particular town, but he hasn't the money to buy any. He has just enough for the ferry and no more.

He shows us, pulling out an old damp sack from his bag. It is full of coins he managed to collect from the rubble of his home. The rest of his savings were notes - paper money which would never have survived so much water.

This is a not a well-off part of the Philippines. There are banks but not everyone has an account. Julio doesn't. He saved his earnings at home.

Our conversation is heartbreaking. Julio doesn't know what he'll do.

Many people have been left with just the clothes on their backs

"I don't have nothing else to do. I just want some rest. It's tragic out there (in Tacloban) so I have to calm myself and try to forget everything terrible that happened to us."

He is visibly depressed. I think he's probably emotionally broken. His face twitches as he talks to us.

"We don't know where else to go. What happened and why to us is a mystery for us."

He recalls the moment the storm hit.

"It was really terrible. Thundering strong winds. I cannot describe how strong it is. Different from every typhoon I have ever seen before.

"My roof was trembling. I put my life jacket on and I just waited. No one really knew what was going to happen. We have never seen big waves like this."

Many are trying to get to the neighbouring island of Cebu

With any luck, and with the coins he has salvaged, he will be on a ferry soon.

It will take him to the neighbouring island of Cebu where he hopes he will find the power to get him back on track.

"I don't know." he says. "I will just start at the beginning again."

In disasters like this, it's natural to think about the children, the mothers, the elderly. The reality is that everyone is suffering.

In fact, the children are probably the most resilient. I can see a few running around now, playing in the stifling sun which breaks the torrential rain. They don't really understand the chaos around them.

As I watch the kids playing, Julio recalls the friends and family he has lost.

"My uncle and many friends. And everything is destroyed. Everything."

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China To 'Loosen' Its One-Child Policy

China: One-Child Policy Explained

Updated: 11:27am UK, Friday 04 October 2013

By Mark Stone, Asia Correspondent

China's efforts to control its population began in 1971 with couples encouraged, but not forced, to have fewer children.

The official "one-child policy" was introduced at the end of that decade.

According to official Communist Party data, released in March 2013, Chinese doctors have performed 336 million abortions and 196 million sterilisations since 1971.

That number includes procedures carried out at the request of the mother, albeit to comply with the law. But it also includes an unknown number of forced abortions.

The Chinese government, under decades of international pressure to scrap the law, has repeatedly argued that it is an effective policy to control the country's soaring population.

They claim that, without the restrictions, the population of China, currently 1.3 billion, would be 30% larger.

Officially the policy is supposed to be achieved through financial penalties and not physical coercion. In many cases, it is, but the implementation of the policy and the zealousness of local officials differs from province to province.

Since the 1970s, the policy has been relaxed in various provinces. In some, couples can now pay a lesser fine as a penalty for having a second child. Another relaxation of the policy allows couples in some provinces who are themselves both only children to have a second child.

However, the targets set to keep the population numbers down have not been raised to bring them into line with the increasing number of couples "permitted" to have a second child.

The result of that is a perception that provincial family planning departments are failing in their task of keeping within their birth quota.

It is clamed, though extremely hard to prove, that the forced abortions - which occur even among those willing to pay a fine - are the result of over-zealous local officials striving to keep the birth rate within government targets.

Officially, forced abortions are illegal across China. However, the law appears to be interpreted differently from province to province with a fine line between financial coercion and physical force.

Although figures for the number of abortions across China are publicly available, it is impossible to break that down into those which were entirely voluntary, those which were financially coerced and those which were physically forced despite willingness to pay the fine.

Among those who have gone public about their forced abortions, all said they were also forced to sign papers claiming that they had agreed to the procedure.

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Sri Lanka: Cameron Mobbed By Tamil Protesters

David Cameron has been mobbed by 250 Tamil protesters in north Sri Lanka, who claim their relatives have been murdered by the state.

In chaotic scenes, the Prime Minister's convoy was surrounded by demonstrators all trying to show him their family pictures and tell their stories of suffering in the country's 26-year civil war.

The protesters were the relatives of "the disappeared" - those who have just vanished without explanation but whom, it is alleged, have been either captured or killed by the state.

Sky's Deputy Political Editor Joey Jones, who is travelling with the Prime Minister, said: "He was in a vehicle, in his Jeep, but people spilled through the police line trying to get up towards the Prime Minister ...

"One or two young women really pressed up against the car as it was departing, trying to get photographs and testimony to what they fear may have happened to their loved ones to David Cameron."

The Prime Minister has travelled to the northern city of Jaffna, to meet Tamils scarred by years of ethnic fighting in the country, ahead of his meeting with the country's president in which he will raise the question of Sri Lanka's human rights record.

Protesters broke through the police lines

Mr Cameron, who is the first president or prime minister to travel to the region since Sri Lanka gained independent in 1948, said he had been confronted by "incredibly powerful" images during his visit to the north.

He said: "Going to the headquarters of a Tamil newspaper here in northern Sri Lanka and seeing pictures of journalists, shot and killed, on the walls and hearing stories of journalists who have disappeared long after the war has ended, that will stay with me.

"And also the image, in this camp, of talking to a young woman who came here when she was very young - a child in this camp - and wants nothing more than to go to her own home."

Mr Cameron added: "The fact is about this country that there is a chance of success because the war is over, the terrorism has finished, the fighting is done.

"Now what's needed is generosity and magnanimity from the Sri Lankan government to bring the country together."

The Prime Minister has pledged to use the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (Chogm) to challenge President Mahinda Rajapaksa over "chilling" claims of human rights abuses. 

Mr Cameron meets with Tamils in a local village

As many as 40,000 civilians are estimated to have died in the final months of the regime's fight with Tamil Tiger separatists, according to the United Nations.

There have been allegations of battlefield executions and rapes by regime forces and claims they indiscriminately shelled Tamils fleeing the fighting as the Tigers were defeated.

Mr Cameron will put pressure on Mr Rajapaksa to agree to an independent inquiry into the alleged war crimes by state forces.

The UN says that abductions and torture continue in the country.

Mr Rajapaska used the international conference to warn the Commonwealth not to be judgemental.

He told those present that it was thanks to him that the "menace of terrorism" was at an end.

Police officers intervene as protesters attempt to get to Mr Cameron

He claimed the war crimes alleged to have been carried out by the military in 2009 amounted to "exerting the greatest right, the right to life" for his country's people.

Paul Harrison, Sky's Royal Correspondent who is in Colombo at the meeting, said: "The image of Sri Lanka which Mr Rajapaksa would rather portray to the world is one of handshakes with foreign heads of Government, colourful cultural shows and visits by royalty, like Prince Charles.

"After months of criticism ahead of the biennial Chogm meeting, this time in the Sri Lankan capital, Mr Rajapaksa hijacked his own international conference to warn the Commonwealth not to be 'judgemental'."

Labour leader Ed Miliband had called on Mr Cameron to boycott the Chogm event in protest at Sri Lanka's human rights record and said he should join other Commonwealth members to block Mr Rajapaska from taking up the two-year chairmanship of the 53-nation group.

But Mr Cameron insisted it was far better to go and raise concerns than stay away.

Earlier on Friday Prince Charles kicked off the Commonwealth summit at a colourful opening ceremony in the capital, Colombo, declaring his "admiration" for the way the country has rebuilt after a devastating tsunami in 2004.

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Typhoon Haiyan: Philippines Appeal Tops £30m

The public have donated more than £30m to the Philippines Typhoon Appeal in just three days, the Disasters Emergency Committee has said.

The DEC - which represents 14 UK charities - said the money would provide food, water, household items and tarpaulin to the thousands made homeless.

It said it was "working around the clock" to deliver the aid.

"We are so grateful to the people of the UK for their generosity to date," said DEC Chief Executive Saleh Saeed, who urged the public to continue to donate.

Helicopters from the USS George Washington deliver supplies

The donations come as the death toll from Typhoon Haiyan was revised up to 3,621, according to a top Philippine official.

The figure far exceeds an estimate by Philippine President Benigno Aquino, who this week predicted it would be closer to 2,500.

On Thursday, official confirmed deaths nationwide stood at 2,357 after the November 8 disaster - one of the strongest typhoons ever recorded.

But Eduardo del Rosario, director of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, said the new figure was the "latest death toll" from all the country's provinces.

The number of missing stands at 25,000, according to the Red Cross.

A soldier stands at a checkpoint in the devastated city of Tacloban

Tacloban Mayor Alfred Romualdez said some victims may have been swept out to sea after a tsunami-like wall of seawater up to 30ft (9m) high slammed into coastal areas.

The city is continuing to bury scores of unidentified victims into a mass grave the size of an Olympic swimming pool at its hillside cemetery.

President Aquino said initial estimates of 10,000 dead by local officials were overstated by "emotional trauma".

The president is facing pressure to speed up the distribution of aid.

Survivors have grown increasingly desperate and angry over the relief effort, which has been hindered by looting, a lack of fuel for rescue vehicles and debris-choked roads.

At least 600,000 have been displaced by the disaster

International help is now under way, with the USS George Washington aircraft carrier starting to fly food, water and medical teams to the ravaged islands.

An RAF cargo plane left the UK on Friday, while HMS Illlustrious is expected to arrive in the country around November 25.

UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos has said people have been "let down" by the Philippine government's slow response.

Hundreds of shell-shocked survivors from Tacloban - carrying any possessions they have managed to retrieve - are waiting for ferries to leave devastated Leyte island.

Sky News' Mark Stone, at the Ormoc City ferry terminal, says most have "nothing but the clothes on their back" and have no idea what to do.

On Bantayan Island, 60 miles to the west, the situation is also desperate - the international relief effort has yet to reach the area and aid supplies are woefully short.

Glenda Despesemento, in charge of a relief centre at a school, told Sky News that food, medicine and clothes were urgently needed.

Water supplies have also been destroyed and families - sheltering together in classrooms - are having to boil water from a well and share it between them.

"These rooms, I think 57 families stay here from one week until now," said Ms Despesemento.

"We need help - we need help from any country."

At least 600,000 people are thought to have been displaced by the typhoon, one of the most powerful ever to hit land with winds of over 195mph and a powerful storm surge.

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Typhoon Haiyan Aid Effort Boost From Uk Carrier

A second British Royal Navy warship is being deployed to the Philippines to help with the aid effort following Typhoon Haiyan last Friday.

Speaking during a visit to India, David Cameron said helicopter carrier HMS Illustrious will replace destroyer HMS Daring, which has already been deployed from Singapore.

Its helicopters may be used to assist with the distribution of food and water to survivors stranded in remote locations in the far eastern archipelago state, and its facilities to make water drinkable are likely to be in demand in a country where supplies have been badly disrupted by the typhoon. 

lllustrious has been taking part in war games and is expected to arrive by November 25. It has 900 crew and seven helicopters on board.

HMS Illustrious is a helicopter carrier

The Prime Minister said the Government has also raised the amount it is giving to the country to over £20m, while at least £23m more has been raised by the British public.

There have been reports of widespread hunger and thirst in areas battered by the typhoon. A mayor of one of the affected towns said he would not be able to maintain law and order unless food arrived soon.

United Nations humanitarian chief Valerie Amos has acknowledged survivors had been "let down".

MAss burials of the typhoon's victims have begun

"The situation is dismal," she told reporters in Manila. "Those who have been able to leave have done so. Many more are trying. People are extremely desperate for help.

"We need to get assistance to them now. They are already saying it has taken too long to arrive. Ensuring a faster delivery is our ... immediate priority."

The US Navy aircraft carrier USS George Washington has also arrived in the Philippines and will "provide logistical and emergency support" off the east coast of Samar island.

The Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), a group of 14 UK aid organisations, said that while life-saving aid is on the move, agencies are battling to overcome blocked roads, closed ports, an ill-equipped airport and increasing security concerns.

Justin Forsyth, chief executive of Save The Children, told Sky News his teams in Cebu were facing "huge logistical problems" which were only just beginning to improve.

"The most important thing is not only flying aid in, but staying with these communities over the next weeks and months because they're going to have to pick up, rebuild their homes and livelihoods," he said.

"There's another risk which is that we all respond in the next few days but we don't stay the course."

At least 2,000 bodies are reported to have been collected in Tacloban

Sky News Correspondent Katie Stallard, watching supplies arrive at an airfield in Cebu City, said: "We are seeing signs that the international relief effort is getting going, but many people will simply not know it is coming."

Thousands of desperate survivors are clamouring to escape Tacloban, where the UN fears up to 10,000 people may have been killed.

Clean drinking water is in short supply and scores of dead bodies lie piled up in bags outside the ruined city hall.

People queue to charge their mobile phones in Tacloban city

"There are still so many cadavers in so many areas. It's scary," the city's mayor Alfred Romualdez said, adding that retrieval teams were struggling to cope.

City officials estimate that they have collected 2,000 bodies but insist many more need to be retrieved.

Mass burials began on Thursday after attempts to lay to rest some of Haiyan's victims were abandoned the previous day when gunshots halted a convoy travelling towards a communal grave.

Officials are struggling to cope with the sheer scale of the disaster

Tacloban city administrator Tecson Lim said 70% of the city's 220,000 people were in need of emergency assistance, and that only 70 of the city's 2,700 employees had been showing up for work.

In Tabontabon, the town's mayor Brendo Gamez told Sky's Asia correspondent Mark Stone that he feared a breakdown of law and order if aid was delayed.

He said: "We have no food ... if the people of Tabontabon suffer hunger, I don't think I can control them any more."

Meanwhile Philippine Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla has warned that it could take six weeks to restore power to some areas.

The weather also remains a challenge, with frequent downpours.

:: To make a donation to the DEC Philippines Crisis Appeal visit www.dec.org.uk, call the 24-hour hotline on 0370 60 60 900, donate over the counter at any high street bank or post office or send a cheque.

You can also donate £5 by texting the word SUPPORT to 70000.

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Tamil Man 'Tortured By Sri Lankan Army'

By Lisa Holland, Foreign Affairs Correspondent

Navaneethan Subramaniam is not allowed out of the London mental health unit where he is being treated unless he is accompanied.

He arrived in August after smuggling himself illegally into Britain via Europe in the back of a lorry.

Navaneethan's lawyer says he is under constant supervision because there are fears he may try to take his own life after suffering weeks of torture, allegedly at the hands of the Sri Lankan army.

This is the first time Navaneethan has left the hospital grounds. He wants to tell his story and has been allowed to leave for a few hours by doctors to meet us at a nearby cafe.

Navaneethan speaks virtually no English and talks to us through a Tamil solicitor.

During the Sri Lankan civil war he says he was a driver for the separatist group the Tamil Tigers - but he insists he is no longer an activist.

After the end of the civil war he says he went to France but was deported back to Sri Lanka, where he said he was abducted one day on his way home from work.

The 33-year-old said he was picked up and tortured in May of this year - four years on from the supposed end of the civil war.

Tamils claim they were abused in government-run refugee camps

His story is typical of the claims of abuses which human rights groups say are continuing in Sri Lanka. 

He told me: "They came in front of me, stopped me and said, 'I want to speak to you, come', then grabbed me from behind my head, grabbed my collar and pushed me into the van."

Navaneethan says he was taken to an army camp where he was held for 23 days.

He said: "I was questioned. They said, 'You have been the driver of the vehicles belonging to the group (Tamil Tigers). You smuggled arms and hid them. Where are the bunkers with weapons?'."

He says he was slapped and punched, beaten with a rifle butt, given electric shocks, made to feel like he was drowning and repeatedly sexually abused.

"I was beaten but before that I was given electric shocks. It was like two squares held onto my waist. After that I was assaulted with a rifle butt. My ear was pulled with pliers and I was stabbed with an army knife.

"The sexual thing ... three army personnel came one night. I was kept the whole night. One after the other they came to me and they did it."

Sri Lanka's High Commissioner dismissed the claims of torture

"I was mostly beaten with plastic pipes, long wooden poles and wires. They put a plastic bag over my head and put water inside. I couldn't breathe at all.

"At that time I felt instead of going through all this torture I would rather die - my torture was that severe. 

"Like what happened to me, the torture is on a massive scale and the outside world has no idea about these things."

Navaneethan - who is applying for permission to stay in Britain - returned to the hospital after spending a few hours with us.

Sky News raised his case with Dr Chris Nonis, Sri Lanka's High Commissioner to the UK.

He said: "People who came over here as economic refugees living off the British taxpayers' money who now should be deported naturally do not want to be deported, and they will come up with all sorts of conjecture of 'torture', because they have a compelling reason why they want to stay.

"There will always be a group of people who funded terrorism, who made terrorism a business, who will perpetuate a proxy propaganda war. All these are usually unauthenticated, unverified and uncorroborated.  

"We have a formal process of investigation. It is a domestic process and that will continue because no one condones any form of torture.

"But there are lots of spurious allegations and it is fundamentally important for a country post-conflict that we separate fact from fiction."

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Toronto Mayor 'Took Cocaine With Prostitute'

Toronto's troubled mayor is facing more questions after newly released court documents appeared to reveal a pattern of drug and alcohol use and abusive behaviour.

Just a week after Rob Ford admitted he had smoked crack cocaine in the past, The New York Times published details of police surveillance and wiretaps with his staff and other witnesses.

Included in the 500-page report are allegations Mr Ford brought a woman, thought to be a prostitute, to his City Hall office and that he took cocaine and partied with a possible sex worker in a bar.

The documents, released by a judge, were used by Canadian police to obtain a search warrant for Alexander Lisi, Mr Ford's friend and occasional driver who is accused of marijuana possession and trafficking.

Mr Ford with a bobblehead toy

Employees claim they were involved in drunken altercations with Mr Ford and that he was verbally abusive to them.

The documents also allege Mr Ford took the painkiller Oxycontin and drove his Cadillac while drunk.

Mr Ford's former press secretary claimed that women would regularly appear at his boss's office. It is reported that they said they had smoked marijuana with Mr Ford outside a bar and that he had offered them jobs.

On Wednesday members of the city's council called for Mr Ford to take a leave of absence after he admitted smoking crack cocaine while in a "drunken stupor" and was filmed making threats to kill.

Mr Ford also admitted buying illegal drugs in the last two years, but he has refused to step down from his position.

He has denied he is an addict or alcoholic and said he is "sincerely sorry" for his actions.

On Tuesday the embattled politician signed limited-edition bobblehead dolls of himself which were being sold for charity.

In a CTV News poll 62% of respondents said there was "no way" they would vote for Mr Ford "under any circumstance".

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Sri Lanka: Cameron Urged To Raise Atrocities

Tamil Claims Torture And Sex Abuse

Updated: 11:38am UK, Thursday 14 November 2013

By Lisa Holland, Foreign Affairs Correspondent

Navaneethan Subramaniam is not allowed out of the London mental health unit where he is being treated unless he is accompanied.

He arrived in August after smuggling himself illegally into Britain via Europe in the back of a lorry.

Navaneethan's lawyer says he is under constant supervision because there are fears he may try to take his own life after suffering weeks of torture, allegedly at the hands of the Sri Lankan army.

This is the first time Navaneethan has left the hospital grounds. He wants to tell his story and has been allowed to leave for a few hours by doctors to meet us at a nearby cafe.

Navaneethan speaks virtually no English and talks to us through a Tamil solicitor.

During the Sri Lankan civil war he says he was a driver for the separatist group the Tamil Tigers - but he insists he is no longer an activist.

After the end of the civil war he says he went to France but was deported back to Sri Lanka, where he said he was abducted one day on his way home from work.

The 33-year-old said he was picked up and tortured in May of this year - four years on from the supposed end of the civil war.

His story is typical of the claims of abuses which human rights groups say are continuing in Sri Lanka. 

He told me: "They came in front of me, stopped me and said, 'I want to speak to you, come', then grabbed me from behind my head, grabbed my collar and pushed me into the van."

Navaneethan says he was taken to an army camp where he was held for 23 days.

He said: "I was questioned. They said, 'You have been the driver of the vehicles belonging to the group (Tamil Tigers). You smuggled arms and hid them. Where are the bunkers with weapons?'."

He says he was slapped and punched, beaten with a rifle butt, given electric shocks, made to feel like he was drowning and repeatedly sexually abused.

"I was beaten but before that I was given electric shocks. It was like two squares held onto my waist. After that I was assaulted with a rifle butt. My ear was pulled with pliers and I was stabbed with an army knife.

"The sexual thing ... three army personnel came one night. I was kept the whole night. One after the other they came to me and they did it."

"I was mostly beaten with plastic pipes, long wooden poles and wires. They put a plastic bag over my head and put water inside. I couldn't breathe at all.

"At that time I felt instead of going through all this torture I would rather die - my torture was that severe. 

"Like what happened to me, the torture is on a massive scale and the outside world has no idea about these things."

Navaneethan - who is applying for permission to stay in Britain - returned to the hospital after spending a few hours with us.

Sky News raised his case with Dr Chris Nonis, Sri Lanka's High Commissioner to the UK.

He said: "People who came over here as economic refugees living off the British taxpayers' money who now should be deported naturally do not want to be deported, and they will come up with all sorts of conjecture of 'torture', because they have a compelling reason why they want to stay.

"There will always be a group of people who funded terrorism, who made terrorism a business, who will perpetuate a proxy propaganda war. All these are usually unauthenticated, unverified and uncorroborated.  

"We have a formal process of investigation. It is a domestic process and that will continue because no one condones any form of torture.

"But there are lots of spurious allegations and it is fundamentally important for a country post-conflict that we separate fact from fiction."

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Typhoon Haiyan Leaves Tacloban Devastated

By Mark Stone, Asia Correspondent, in Tacloban City

Tacloban City is hell. It is a place completely devastated and entirely broken in every way except one.

Dead bodies still lie in the streets

The resilience of the Filipino people has been humbling and extraordinary.

At a destroyed convenience store we stopped to chat to the owner and her daughter.

They have nothing left. Only three walls remain of their home and their livelihood. There is no roof. I ask how they are doing, quickly realising what a stupid question it is.

There is no electricity in the city

"We are surviving." the mother says, her voice breaking.

"You are still smiling, " I say to her. "Of course," she says. "We are Filipinos. We always smile."

Normally that's true. And even now when you smile at the locals they smile back.

Many people have left Tacloban for Manila

"Hello sir," they shout. "Hello mam."

Tacloban now has a horrible notoriety after what happened here. Dead bodies still lie on the sides of the streets.

But those who survived desperately need help. There is nothing like enough supplies or aid here and there is a depressing lack of co-ordination.

As I write this I can see men, women and small children sitting in the mud waiting.

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Typhoon Haiyan: China Pledges $100,000 Aid

China has risked further straining its fragile relations with the Philippines by donating $100,000 (£63,000) to the Typhoon Haiyan relief effort.

The donation is matched by $100,000 from the Chinese Red Cross - but is still dwarfed by the effort from other countries seeking to exert influence in South East Asia, including the US and Japan.

Diplomatic links between Beijing and Manila have suffered in recent years due to China's claims over the disputed South China Sea and a 2010 Hong Kong tour bus hostage crisis in the Filipino capital.

One of China's state-run newspapers has criticised the donation but comments on Sina Weibo, China's version of Twitter, suggest public opinion may be against giving more.

The Global Times, known for its nationalistic and often hawkish editorial views, expressed concern about the impact on Beijing's international standing.

"China, as a responsible power, should participate in relief operations to assist a disaster-stricken neighbouring country, no matter whether it's friendly or not," the paper said in a commentary.

"China's international image is of vital importance to its interests. If it snubs Manila this time, China will suffer great losses."

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said China would consider more aid as the situation developed, but did not say why Beijing had offered less than other countries.

He said: "China has also suffered from the disaster, so we very much understand and sympathise with the current hardships that the Philippine people are facing."

The storm claimed the lives of at least seven people and caused $734m (£462m) in economic losses when the much-weakened storm swept through China's southern provinces.

Comments on Sina Weibo overwhelmingly opposed China giving aid to the Philippines.

A botched attempt to free tourists from a bus in 2010 strained relations

One user wrote: "For God's sake, give them nothing. We've given them enough in the past."

Lye Liang Fook of the East Asian Institute in Singapore said it was impossible to separate China's anger over territorial claims from the question of disaster relief.

He said: "Politically there is a lack of trust, and under the circumstances, the fact that China is willing to extend aid is quite significant. The two issues are linked to each other."

Joseph Cheng, a political science professor at Hong Kong's City University, said public sentiment would factor into China's decision.

He said: "I certainly think that relief and aid for natural disasters should not be affected by political relations. But the Chinese authorities are handicapped by domestic nationalist feelings as well.

"China should have used the opportunity to improve its image."

Super Typhoon Haiyan tore through the central Philippines on Friday and flattened the city of Tacloban, where officials fear up to 10,000 people could have died.

Officials fear the toll could rise as rescuers reach more isolated towns.

Overwhelmed by the scale of the disaster, the Philippines has sought international assistance.

The US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier the USS George Washington, carrying about 5,000 sailors and more than 80 aircraft, will arrive this week after setting sail from Hong Kong on Tuesday.

It has been joined by four other US Navy ships.

The United States is also providing $20m (£12.5m) in immediate aid, while the UK has committed £15m and sent a Royal Navy warship to the region.

Japan said it will give $10m (£6.3m) and send a small number of soldiers and medical personnel, while Australia has donated $9.6m (£6m).

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Typhoon Haiyan Survivors' Fear And Desperation

Gunshots have reportedly forced the delay of a mass burial of victims of the huge typhoon that smashed into the Philippines.

The mayor of Tacloban, the provincial capital of Leyte province where 16ft waves flattened nearly everything in their path, made the claim on Wednesday.

Soldiers carry young children on to evacuation flights at Tacloban airport

Alfred Romualdez said: "We had finished digging the mass burial site. We had the truck loaded with bodies but there was some shooting. They could not proceed."

Locals in Tacloban also reported seeing members of the army firing guns, as well as armed civilians in the street.

An injured typhoon survivor is carried by members of the military

Meanwhile it has been reported that a 13-year-old boy who was walking alone through the city at night was slashed across the neck and stabbed in the stomach.

Jonathan Salayco said he was attacked by two men he did not know late on Tuesday, who then disappeared without a trace.

Red Cross nurse Mina Joset said: "He was still holding his toy car.

The remains of an orphanage

"For a boy like him, this is a serious injury."

Five days after Typhoon Haiyan ripped apart entire coastal communities, the situation in Tacloban is becoming ever more dire with essential supplies low and increasingly desperate survivors jostling for aid.

Eight people were crushed to death after a huge crowd of typhoon survivors rushed a government rice warehouse, causing a wall to collapse.

Supplies of rice are loaded on to a truck, but food remains scarce

The incident in Alangalang town, 10 miles from Tacloban, underlined the increasing sense of fear and desperation setting in among those battling to survive the aftermath of the typhoon.

Sky News Asia Correspondent Mark Stone said: "Those who survived desperately need help. There is nothing like enough supplies or aid here and there is a depressing lack of co-ordination."

The Disasters Emergency Committee appeal has reached £13m just 24 hours after it was launched, it was announced on Wednesday.

Tacloban's infrastructure was devastated by the typhoon's impact

UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos has praised the international community's reaction but said much more needed to be done in a disaster of such magnitude.

The international relief effort is building momentum with many countries pledging help. The United States and Britain are sending warships carrying thousands of sailors to the Philippines.

The aircraft carrier USS George Washington, which has 5,000 sailors and more than 80 aircraft on board, is heading from Hong Kong with five other US warships, while three amphibious vessels are also being deployed.

A sense of fear and desperation is growing in the stricken city

The carrier group is expected to reach the Philippines later this week, the Pentagon said, bringing much needed supplies.

The UK's first flight delivering urgently needed humanitarian aid has now arrived, the Government has said.

A chartered Boeing 777 carrying 8,836 shelter kits from UK Government stores in Dubai landed in the city of Cebu and was met by Department for International Development (DFID) humanitarian workers.

A school in Cebu was reduced to rubble

President Aquino has declared a "state of national calamity", allowing the government to impose price controls and quickly release emergency funds.

The latest official government death toll stands at 1,798, although authorities have said they have not come close to accurately assessing the number of bodies lying amid the rubble or swept out to sea.

Health Secretary Enrique Ona admitted authorities were struggling to deal with the sheer numbers of the dead.

He told radio station DZMM they had delayed the retrieval of bodies because "we ran out of body bags".

He said: "We hope to speed it up when we get more body bags."

The UN estimates more than 11.3 million people have been affected with 673,000 made homeless, since Haiyan smashed into the nation's central islands on Friday.

Haiyan's sustained winds when it hit Samar island, where it first made landfall, reached 195 miles an hour, making it the strongest typhoon in the world this year and one of the most powerful ever recorded.

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India's Top Cop Under Fire For Rape Remarks

India's top police chief is facing calls for his resignation after he said: "If you can't prevent rape, you might as well enjoy it."

Ranjit Sinha, director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) - India's equivalent of the United States' FBI - apologised for the remark.

However, his comment has sparked outrage across the country, which in the past year has seen widespread protests following the fatal gang rape of a 23-year-old woman on a bus in New Delhi.

Mr Sinha made the comment during a CBI conference about illegal sports betting and the need to legalise gambling.

"Do we have the enforcement?" Mr Sinha said at the event in New Delhi on Tuesday about whether sports betting should be legalised.

There have been widespread protests demanding tougher penalties for rape

"It is very easy to say that if you can't enforce it, it's like saying if you can't prevent rape, you enjoy it."

He insisted his comments were taken out of context and were misinterpreted, but angry activists called for his resignation.

"I regret any hurt caused," Mr Sinha said. "I gave my opinion that betting should be legalised and that if the laws cannot be enforced, that does not mean that laws should not be made.

"This is as erroneous as saying that if rape is inevitable one should lie back and enjoy it. I reiterate my deep sense of regard and respect for women and my commitment for gender issues."

But civil rights campaigners and opposition politicians said his remarks risked trivialising the issue of rape and raised questions over the CBI's ability to investigate serious sexual assaults.

Kavita Krishnan, an activist with the All India Progressive Women's Association, called for Mr Sinha to step down.

"How can he remain the head of India's premier investigation agency?" she said.

There were more than 24,000 reported rapes in India in 2011

Nirmala Sitharaman, spokeswoman for the main opposition group, the Bharatiya Janata Party, described the remarks as "shocking".

"Wonder if his colleagues in the Bureau, his family and well-wishers approve of his view," she wrote on Twitter.

Communist Party of India leader Brinda Karat condemned Mr Sinha's comments as offensive to all women.

"It is sickening that a man who is in charge of several rape investigations should use such an analogy," she said. "He should be prosecuted for degrading and insulting women."

The New Delhi bus attack last December caused nationwide outrage and forced the government to change rape laws and create fast-track courts for rape cases.

New laws introduced after the attack make stalking, voyeurism and sexual harassment a crime.

They also provide for the death penalty for repeat offenders or for rape attacks that lead to the victim's death.

There were more than 24,000 reported rapes in India in 2011, but activists say the real number is many times higher.

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Typhoon Haiyan: Appeal For £190m In Aid

Aid agencies have launched a joint emergency appeal to get food, water and shelter to victims of the devastating Philippines typhoon.

The United Nations estimates that $301m (£190m) will be needed in aid.

"We've just launched an action plan focusing on the areas of food, health, sanitation, shelter, debris removal and also protection of the most vulnerable with the government and I very much hope our donors will be generous," humanitarian chief Valerie Amos told reporters in the capital Manila.

Police stand next to body bags near Tacloban

"That plan is for $301m."

The Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), made up of 14 aid charities, said its members were already responding to the crisis but the scale of the destruction meant there was "huge unmet need".

A "huge injection" of funds is needed to get aid through to victims after the typhoon, known locally as Yolanda, made roads impassable and put airports out of action, the DEC said.

Although the official death toll stands at 1,774, around 10,000 people are thought to have been killed in the city of Tacloban alone.

The UN said 660,000 people have lost their homes while a further 10 million could be affected after the typhoon, said to be the strongest ever to make landfall, hit the southeast Asian nation.

Homes on a hillside in Tacloban have been obliterated by the storm surge

Sky's chief correspondent Stuart Ramsay is in Hagnaya in Cebu where he said people are begging on the streets because supplies from NGOs have not yet reached them.

He said nearly 100% of the buildings in the town have been damaged.

"There's concern that there is another weather front likely to hit the area with a lot of rain forecast in the next couple of days."

Authorities said they had evacuated 800,000 people ahead of the typhoon, but many evacuation centres proved to be no protection against the wind and rising water.

People in the devout Philippines still try to use a badly-flooded church

The Philippine National Red Cross, responsible for warning the region and giving advice, said people were not prepared for a storm surge.

Although weakened, the typhoon, has also killed eight people and devastated farmland since making landfall in southern China. 

DEC chief executive Saleh Saeed said: "The destruction in Tacloban city, on the east coast, is said to be reminiscent of the Boxing Day tsunami.

"There is currently no food, water or electricity. We can only imagine how much worse the situation will be for families living in towns and remote villages.

"DEC members are doing all they can to get aid through but they need a huge injection of funds in order to do so.

"The priorities are getting food, water and shelter to people in desperate need."

Sky's Asia correspondent Mark Stone, on the island of Leyte, said up to 20 people had been killed by falling bags of rice in the scramble to get to aid supplies from a warehouse.

Stone said he had travelled to the island with people who did not know if their family members were alive or not: "There's no mobile phone network here, no way of communicating."

The DEC includes the British Red Cross, Christian Aid, Oxfam and Save the Children.

Typhoon Haiyan has made landfall in southwest China, killing eight people

All of its members will support the appeal and 13 of the 14 are responding either directly or through partner organisations.

The UK is deploying a Royal Navy warship, HMS Daring, and donating £10m of humanitarian assistance in aid for the victims, Prime Minister David Cameron said.

The ship carries equipment to make drinking water from seawater.

Britain will also deploy RAF military transport aircraft in aid of recovery efforts, earmarking at least one C-17 cargo plane to move humanitarian aid and large equipment.

And a 12-strong team of British surgeons and paramedics is being sent to help with the aid effort.

Meanwhile, Australia announced assistance of £5.8m and the US government has pledged $20m in immediate aid and has ordered the aircraft carrier USS George Washington to the sail to the Philippines.

Japan said it will fly a relief team over to the ravaged country and Taiwan is sending £125,000 in aid.

The United Nations World Food Programme has also allocated $2m (£1.25m) and Unicef is sending emergency supplies.

:: To make a donation to the DEC Philippines Crisis Appeal visit www.dec.org.uk, call the 24-hour hotline on 0370 60 60 900, donate over the counter at any high street bank or post office or send a cheque.

You can also donate £5 by texting the word SUPPORT to 70000.

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Typhoon Haiyan: Families Search For Relatives

By Mark Stone, Asia Correspondent, in Leyte

Many thousands of relatives of those who were hit by the typhoon still have no idea of the fate of their loved ones.

At the ferry terminal in Cebu city, hundreds are queuing to make the hardest of journeys.

Communications on the neighbouring island where their families live are down, the pictures emerging are grim and so the only way they will find out if their families survived is to go.

A woman with an umbrella stands amid the rubble of Tacloban, Leyte

Ramon Gerado Jnr, 46, has made an extraordinary journey to find his family.

Like so many Filipinos, Ramon works abroad. So for three days he travelled from Saudi Arabia, where he is a construction worker.

Aerial shots show the true scale of the Typhoon Haiyan destruction

"I am praying that my family is OK. But still, I am ...." he stops. It all seems too much.

We board the ferry for the two-hour crossing to Leyte Island.

It is packed, and with another storm coming, the sea is rough.

Everyone on board must be thinking the same thing: a mixture of hope and dread.

Some families have been forced to take food from damaged shops

Sitting next to me are two young women. They are in their late teens I would guess, and judging by their appearance they are sisters.

They are not talking. They are deep in thought. They seem far away, staring out of the window at the coastline of their battered homeland.

I decide not to break their thoughts by engaging in conversation, so I can only guess why they are making the journey.

It is pretty obvious though. If they are like the other 99% then they too are making the grim journey to find out the fate of their families.

Worried relatives have travelled to Leyte to look for loved ones

Both are clutching their mobile phones, presumably hoping the brightly-coloured handsets might suddenly defy the lack of signal and ring with good news.

As we arrive at the small city of Ormoc, on Leyte Island, we start to get a sense of the scale of devastation.

The buildings are roofless, the trees that are still standing have been stripped of all their branches. And this is only the beginning of the journey.

It will be many more hours before we get to Ramon's town. "I want everyone to witness what has happened here to my family," he said.

:: To make a donation to the DEC Philippines Crisis Appeal visit www.dec.org.uk, call the 24-hour hotline on 0370 60 60 900, donate over the counter at any high street bank or post office or send a cheque.

You can also donate £5 by texting the word SUPPORT to 70000.

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